Boxing: Hit or Miss

"Boxing is bullshit." -Paulie Malignaggi after losing a unanimous decision to Juan Diaz in Houston Saturday night.

Although I do not like the fast talking, flamboyant Paulie Malignaggi, I felt he deserved the nod against Juan Diaz in Diaz's hometown of Houston. Gale Van Hoy had the fight marked 118-110 for Diaz, which I'm sorry to say is pretty impossibe; both fighters fought well, but Malignaggi seemed to dictate the pace, keeping the Houston native off-balance with his best punch: the left jab.

However, every time Diaz seemed to land a significant punch, the crowd would roar and chant their fighter's name, "DIAZ, DIAZ, DIAZ!!!"

In the end, Juan Diaz received a hometown decision and a chance to rebound from his stiff losses to Nate Campbell and Juan Manuel Marquez. Malignaggi's complaining continues as he moves further into the "opponent" category, creeping ever closer to the stepping stone status he seems destined for.

Props to Robert Guerrero for stepping up and taking an alphabet title in a new weight class. In my opinion, Guerrero has been taking an unfair amount of heat lately, being labeled a "coward" and a "quitter" after admitting to the referee he was having trouble seeing against Yordan earlier in the year after an accidental headbutt. However, the Ghost has seemingly exorcised any haunting memories, fighting through both a bad cut and a broken left hand to beat South Africa's Malcolm Klassen for his 130 lb title.

And on the undercard, Ishe Smith threw repeated and intentional shots after the bell multiple times, including pushing his forearm into the throat of prospect Danny Jacobs, forcing Jacobs to lean back against the ropes until the ref decided to finally take action. The ref finally deducted a point from Smith after a late hit after the bell ended the 9th. In my opinion, the referee would have been totally justified in ending the bout after Smith tagged Jacobs three times and then tried to start an actual brawl, especially if Bernabe Concepcion's late hit on Steven Luevano is going to be called a "flagrant foul" and "outrageous" by people like Rafael from ESPN and Rosenthal from RING Magazine.

What's to Come.

Thank God there is one heavyweight left with some balls; chubby Cris Arreola might not look impressive, but he fights with reckless abandon. Win or lose, Vitali is going to be forced into a war. It's gonna be a dog fight on Sept. 26th.

With good ol' Roger Mayweather going away for assault, battery, and coercion, I'd say Juan Manuel Marquez has every advantage to capitalize on: a longer training camp, time to adjust to a new weight, an injured body to attack, and an opponent without a trainer.

However, I bet my house that Floyd Mayweather Sr. dramatically steps up to the plate, allowing HBO's unrivaled 24/7 to capture the warm, heart-felt reunion between estranged father and son. But assuming Mayweather overcomes JMM, imagine the side-story with Roach in Pacquiao's corner and Floyd Sr. in Money's...priceless.

When that fight gets made in 2010 (and even as greedy as Mayweather is, any business man would make sure as hell that fight gets made), I think we should go back to the glory days of the Sweet Science, when businesses and restaurants closed down on fight night. Like when two undefeated champions in Ali and Frazier fought for the first time, it was eloquently dubbed "The Fight." That has a nice ring to it...

And of course, what's boxing without yet another major cancellation. Apparently Kelly Pavlik is having a resurgence of staph infection on his left hand, preventing him from sparring. I'm definitely behind Pavlik, but me thinks his camp wants more time to train and prepare for a 1,000 punch per round southpaw energizer bunny. The reschedule is aimed for November, but William's promoter Dan Goosen is already bitching a fit... One would think that if you're a promoter and your fighter is the most avoided man in boxing, you would try and try again to get a fight with the lineal middleweight champ if he's offering it.

A Weekend Worth Discussing.

So.

Props to Nonito Donaire for fighting a man who weighed in an entire weight class heavier, Rafael Concepcion. Even though the Filipino Flash had subtle problems here and there, mainly with the punching power of Concepcion and the fact he keeps his hands low, (reminiscent of a Roy Jones Jr. we also saw brief glimpses of this weekend) he still managed to dictate the pace and distance, usually hitting the shorter man at will.

But still, the man aspiring to walk in Pacquiao's shoes showed heart and courage in fighting an opponent with a high KO percentage and a 10 lb weight advantage: I'm sure that Pacquiao is proud indeed. Time will tell whether Donaire can successfully climb the ladder, as Darchinyan has already fallen short of his promise to climb as high as the Filipino Icon.

And what's a weekend of boxing without some controversy? I liked Bernabe Concepcion coming into his title fight against Steven Luevano; the first round seemed indicative of Concepcion's speed, punching power, and footwork to dart in and out, obvious teachings of the esteemed Freddie Roach. However, as the middle rounds progressed, Bernabe seemed hesitant, almost afraid of Luevano's right jab, which he flicked out to maintain range rather than to make contact. However, near the end of the last round, Bernabe lunged in and seemed to drain the life out of Luevano with every body shot, and Steven smiled as he stumbled, dropping his hands to his sides. With the heavily pro-Filipino crowd jeering on the challenger, Bernabe rushed in for a quick left and paralyzing right, seconds after the bell to end the round.

Luevano took several mintues to regain consciousness and won the fight via DQ; referee Jay Nady argued the hit was a flagrant foul. But still, props to Freddie Roach who was angered by the decision, but did admit to the hit being late and the decision being justified; he only wanted both camps and the crowd to know that it was not intentional and he would be ready for a re-match at any time. Bob Arum has his sights set on December.

And how about Roy Jones Jr. With a throw-back performance that reminded us all of better days, he danced around and generally humiliated an out-classed Jeff Lacy, whose career should no longer be in question: his time as a prize fighter is over. He was a 2000 Olympian, a world title-holder, and has nothing to be ashamed of. As long as he calls it quits now...

Jones, on the other hand, juked and jived his way to a 10th round TKO, setting himself up for another B-level fight against Australian Danny Green for a piece of the Cruiserweight crown, which would be Jones' fifth title in as many weight classes. I'm sure he'll win. And I'm sure it won't do anything to tarnish or enhance the already stunning career of a P4P pastime.

Pavlik vs. Williams.

Thank God this fight got made. October 3rd, free on HBO.

Kelly Pavlik: lineal, RING Magazine, WBO, WBC, Middleweight Champion.

Paul Williams: #1 at Junior Middleweight, #3 at Middleweight, "interim" Junior Middleweight Champion, and #10 P4P (RING).

Williams takes an early lead with a higher punch output and workrate, but Pavlik's punches start paying off in the later rounds: Pavlik by TKO in 10.